Author Note: Forgot to mention that this story is based off of the TMNT movie-verse about 6 months or so after the events of the 4th movie. The CGI one. That being said, enjoy chapter 2!
Raphael woke slowly. His head throbbed and his thoughts flowed in slow motion. There was cotton in his mouth and a ringing in his ears. It took him what could have been hours or minutes to remember what had happened the night before.
"Sonofabitch..." He muttered, rubbing his eyes and slowly sitting up. He felt sluggish, like moving through jello. What had she hit him with? Raphael opened his eyes, straining in the dim light to see his surroundings. He was in his room, back at the lair. So his brothers had gotten him out. Damn. Now he owed them. Raphael hated being in debt to anyone, even his own family.
He threw the blanket off of himself and swung his legs over the side of his small bed. He stood slowly, taking a few moments to get the feel of his own legs underneath him. Confident he wouldn't fall flat on his face, Raphael walked to the door of his barely big enough room, which was nothing more than a blanket covering an arch made of red bricks.
"Hey! Hey Raph!" Mikey's voice grated on Raphael's nerves as the youngest turtle vaulted up the metal ladder to the second floor of their circular lair and to Raphael's side. "You're awake, dude. Thought you'd sleep for days."
"Yeah well... I feel like I could." Raphael said, rubbing the back of his neck. He could feel a small, slightly raised spot. Just a little bump, like a bug bite. Must be where she stuck me. He thought. "I need a drink." He motioned for his brother to follow him as he climbed down the ladder, taking his time. "What happened?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Leonardo asked, coming from a side room on the bottom floor.
"It was so weird. One minute we were all doin' our thing and sweeping the museum when bam! The alarm goes off." Mikey explained, hovering around Raph as the red banded turtle grabbed a soda from the fridge. "We ran back to you as fast as we could and you were passed out on the ground and Phoenix was gone."
Raphael grunted, frowning. "She stuck me with something and took the sword." He caught from the corner of his eye the hurt look that crossed Michelangelo's face. Raph knew Mikey liked to see the good in people and already he knew his little brother was denying to himself that the white clad ninja would ever do such a thing.
"Don took a sample of your blood after we got you home. He's analyzing it now." Leonardo said.
"Correction, I've analyzed it." Donatello said, stepping from yet another side room.
"What'd you find?" Raphael asked.
"It's unlike anything I've ever seen. It seems to be a combination of different spider venoms and plant extracts. None of which injected separately would have had any but the most minimal affect on the body." He shrugged and shook his head. "I researched every known sedative, pharmaceutical and otherwise, and nothing comes up with this particular mixture."
"Could she have made it herself?"
"That's entirely possible Leo. There was a clan of Ninjas back in the Warring States period of Japan that were well known for their peculiar and unique mixtures of poisons."
"Ah who cares what she used." Raph crushed his empty soda can with his hands, tossing it in the garbage. "I wanna know who she is, where she is, and who she's workin' for."
"What makes you think she's working for anyone?" Mikey asked.
"Just think about it for a sec. She held off dozens of the Foot by herself and hardly looked winded. She was trained by a master. Plus, she wasn't surprised to see us. How many people have we run into that handle seeing four walking, talking, ninja turtles with out freakin' out at least a little?" Raphael crossed his arms, daring with his eyes and smug posture for any of his brothers to provide evidence against his theory.
Leonardo and Donatello shared a glance, a look that Raph had seen many times that usually meant they thought he was being unreasonable. Michelangelo kept looking from one of his three brothers to the next, the war going on inside his head clearly visible. Raphael felt a small flicker of guilt and regret over spoiling the young turtles innocent image of the ninja girl in white. He would have to learn someday though. Mikey couldn't keep pretending that every one was good. He might as well learn from one of his brothers, and Raph figured he was the best choice. He wouldn't sugar coat it just because Mikey was the youngest.
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions." Leo said diplomatically, placing a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "She could have a good reason for taking the sword. Maybe it belonged to her family at one point in time."
"Yeah!" Michelangelo chimed in. "Maybe she wanted it back but the museum wouldn't give it to her."
"You really think so?" Raph shook his head when Mikey nodded in response. "You guys believe what you want. But don't go cryin' ta me when the truth bites ya on the ass." He turned then to leave, heading towards the lairs entrance.
"Raph, where do you think you're going?"
"Gonna go look for are little ninja girl, Leo. Why? Wanna come?"
"It's the middle of the day. There's too many people out right now." Leo grunted annoyance as Raphael rolled his eyes at the oldest turtles caution. "Wait until nightfall. Then we'll all go out and look."
Raphael stood for a moment and looked at his brothers. Donatello, always thinking logically but curious as a cat. Michelangelo, fun loving and innocent with an imagination big enough for the four of them. Leonardo, their fearless leader. Leonardo, who's simple observations sometimes held so much truth Raphael felt smothered by them. He sighed, his arms falling to his side. "Alright. You win. But one of you has'ta make me a pizza while we wait."
"I'll do it!" Mikey shouted, racing to the freezer and grabbing two frozen pizzas.
"We'll find her." Leo said, watching Mikey preheating the oven.
"I hope so." Raphael said, half growl half whisper. "I have a score ta settle with her."
She stood before the full length mirror in her room, her window open to let the light stream in and give her a better look. The procedure was painful, and the skin of her arm was still pink and felt a bit raw it was smooth. She smiled, admiring how the alteration she had made to her ninja garb looked. The left sleeve gone to the shoulder to reveal the new flawless skin of her arm proudly. Phoenix turned this way and that, appreciating the Doctor's work from different angles. She had to keep her eyes from wandering upwards though, to the face that wasn't at the moment hidden by her tenugui. She didn't always win the battle and more than once she almost screamed at the monster that looked back at her.
A soft rustle was the only warning she had that someone was outside her door and a split moment was all the time she had to lift the tenugui that hung around her neck. She turned to see who would come into her room with out knocking and her heart sank as she saw the other woman. She was Japanese and radiated an exotic beauty that Phoenix hated her for. Everything that she was, Phoenix wanted to be. But she never would be. Her childhood had made sure of that. They stood there, looking at each other like cats ready to fight for a fish.
"He does it out of pity."
Phoenix finched, but nodded. "I know."
"Do you think he will actually allow the procedure to come to a completion?" Phoenix didn't answer, unsure what the other woman was up to. "He uses it as a reward when you succeed at a task. If there is no reward to give, how can he be sure you will work as hard as he wishes?"
"For the same reason he knows you'll carry out your jobs. He took me in when no one else wanted me. Fed me, clothed me, and taught me how to take care of myself." She looked at her arm, marveling again at how smooth it was. "I owe him for more than just this." The other woman stared at her in silence, the contempt in her almond shaped eyes barely contained. "Why did you come?" Phoenix asked with a weary sigh.
"He has a job for you. You are to commit a series of minor crimes. He said it was time you served your purpose and that you would know what that meant." She sneered at Phoenix, obviously upset that their Master was keeping something from her.
Phoenix's heart started to race. This was it. It was finally time to show her Master what she was worth. She couldn't let him down. She wouldn't let him down. She smiled under her tenugui, a mixture of anticipation and nerves. She no longer cared that her rival stood uninvited in her room, arms crossed and scowling. It was finally her time. She was important now.
"I'll start tonight." She claimed, perhaps too enthusiastically. She reprimanded herself as she saw the other woman's eyebrow raise in question. Stupid girl. She thought. Keep your emotions in check. "I'll need to prepare, to meditate. Would you leave me, please?"
Her rival hesitated for a moment, and Phoenix could guess that she wanted to ask what was so important about this mission. But they both knew that if their Master wanted them to know something, he would tell them. It was not their place to question. With a nod, she left, closing the door.
It was several moments before Phoenix could stop smiling enough to consider meditation. Sitting cross legged on her floor, she closed her eyes and began with some deep breathing exercises. It was then that the guilt hit. What she would do, her ultimate goal, was anything but good. It would hurt several people and break a family apart. But it was what her Master wanted. She focused on her breathing, stamping out the useless feeling. Soon, it would all be over. Soon...